Here's One Thing In Europe That Isn't Collapsing

For all the apparent problems in Europe right now, and fears of
economic stagnation as a result, one might be surprised to hear
that container shipping rates are soaring for Asia-Europe trade.
(Chart to the right, via Citi)

Rates are rising because volume of trade has picked up. Moreover,
the shipping industry expects growth to continue... which is why
they're now adding more ships to Asia-Europe routes for the first
time in a long while:

Ocean container carriers are significantly boosting cargo
capacity on Asia-Europe shipping lanes for the first time in 18
months, threatening to reverse recent strong gains in
freight rates. New service launches will add around 22,000
20-foot equivalent units to the trade, representing around 7
percent of total capacity, according to Alphaliner, the
Paris-based consultancy. "This is the first major influx of
capacity onto the Asia-Europe sector since the start of the
financial crisis in September 2008," Alphaliner said.

The additional services will ease the capacity crunch on
the Far East-Europe market, which the trade has faced
since late December.

Europe may look like it is 'dying', but they're still voraciously
consuming Asian goods.